The wrestling team, coached by Jeff Rutledge, finished their season with a strong performance at the Nebraska State Athletic Association (NSAA) state wrestling tournament, held on Jan. 14-17 at Kearney. They finished 19th out of 31 class A teams with an overall score of 35.5.
The members of the 2012-2013 wrestling team include senior Jake Hergott, juniors Cody Harris, Ryan Schuette, Justice Shorter, Christian Swift, and Spader Watts, and freshman Jonathan Killingsworth.
Rutledge is proud of the team’s performance at state. “[19th place] is Southeast’s best finish at the state tournament in over a decade. We had two state medalists in Cody Harris and Jonathon Killingsworth,” he said. Harris placed 6th at 220 lbs. and Killingsworth placed 4th at 106 lbs.
Rutledge praised Hergott’s abilities as a team leader, as the only senior on the team. “His passion for this team and the sport of wrestling has really helped this program make huge strides in the four years he has participated. We will miss him next year but his impact will be felt on the Southeast wrestling family for a long time,” he said.
Hergott, who has been wrestling for 12 years, is proud of his performances in the last year. “I was proud to win my last match in Prasch, against someone I had previously lost to,” he said. He plans to continue wrestling in college, and is considering majoring in Exercise Science.
Killingsworth is the only freshman player on the team. He is planning ahead to help lead the team next year. “I want to make it to state finals next year, and I will go to a lot of camps to get better technically,” he said. His proudest moment of the year was winning his first tournament at the York Invite on Dec. 1.
Rutledge commended this year’s underclassmen. “The best part about this season is we had many underclassmen gain valuable varsity experience. We will return six state qualifiers, two state medalists, and twelve varsity starters. There is a lot of excitement around this team to make huge improvements in the off-season and we look forward to a promising season next year,” he said.
